


The Wedding Date

by FangQueen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Divergent, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, HP: EWE, M/M, Pining, Rated Explicit for later chapters, Reconciliation, Weddings, not so slow burn, redeemed!Draco, turned Real eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:02:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangQueen/pseuds/FangQueen
Summary: In a surprising turn of events, Draco finds himself invited to Harry and Ginny's wedding. Unwilling to show up as single as he is, he invites Blaise to go with him, to play his pretend boyfriend. Will they be able to pull it off? And will Draco be able to keep his true feelings about his best friend from coming to light…?





	The Wedding Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jasontoddsrevenge](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasontoddsrevenge/gifts).



> Written for the incomparable, butt-loving wonder that is Jersey ( [@mattjostensbutt](http://mattjostensbutt.tumblr.com/) ) on the occasion of her birthday! I hope it’s an amazing one! :D <333 Her request: Blaise/Draco fake dating au with bed sharing. This story really kind of ran away with me...Haha! So rather than being able to gift the whole thing at once, I'm going to have to post it chapter-by-chapter. At the moment, it looks like it's going to be seven in all! I hope everyone enjoys this first installment--and if you do, I hope you'll stick around for the rest, too!

It was a relatively typical Saturday morning in the Malfoy-Zabini-Parkinson household. The savory smells of breakfast wafted in the air as sunlight gradually inched its way across the floor. Celestina Warbeck warbled on the wireless in the living room. In the kitchen, Blaise could be found cooking eggs and sausages, fully dressed, as he'd been up for a couple hours now. Draco had made a fresh pot of coffee--having stumbled in only a few minutes prior, still in his pajamas--and Pansy had set the table.

When they all went to tuck in, there came a tap at the window: an official-looking post owl bringing them the day's mail. It took the biscuit Pansy offered with a dignified ruffling of its feathers before flying off again, leaving her with a pile of envelopes that she deposited at the center of the table before taking her seat. Draco flipped through the stack of letters while he ate, most of which were bills he set aside for later. Blaise glanced at each one with as much disdain as he.

Pansy had received a letter from Daphne, telling her all about the new home she and Theo had recently purchased. She was intending to throw them both a housewarming party, and asked if Blaise and Draco would assist her in that endeavour. The latter, for one, was thrilled; parties were definitely his forte.

There was a lengthy correspondence from Draco's mother that he'd been expecting, but he couldn't possibly summon the energy for such a thing this early. It would likely be about his father's upcoming court date--his requested appearance at which he'd been dreading. They were to decide whether or not to lift his probation sooner than originally intended, given his "good" behavior during that time. Draco was of the opinion that he should thank his lucky stars that he'd only gotten that--and the fact that his own son had been only _partially_ ignoring his existence since the war ended--and be done with it. He set it aside with the bills, for when he'd have the mental fortitude not to write back what he _really_ thought on the matter.

Blaise, likewise, set a letter from his mother aside, but not without griping about how it was probably just unnecessary details from her honeymoon with her new husband. Draco couldn't help but grin to himself, and he and Pansy shared a look and suppressed laughter across the table. Sometimes it was nice to be reminded that they weren't the only ones with borderline crazy parents.

There was one in the bunch, however, that seemed out of place. A cream envelope, with blush accents and stately handwriting in gold ink. Draco flicked a spell at the seal to break it and carefully removed the thick stationary it contained. Pansy and Blaise were back to talking about Daphne and Theo's party, but he was no longer listening. He unfolded the card one-handed, running his thumb across the interesting raised texture of it, while the other scraped idly across his plate. It almost looked like it was...But no, it couldn't be. Who would've sent it, anyway? He didn't know anyone who was--

The blonde’s fork promptly dropped from his hand onto his plate with a clatter. His mouth, which had been waiting to receive the scoop of eggs resting on it, remained open. Certain he'd misread something along the way, his eyes scanned the contents of the letter again.

"Draco? Are you alright? What's happened?"

He hadn't noticed that the room had gone quiet until Pansy had addressed him, but he was still too engrossed in the letter in his hand to be capable of providing her with an answer. Instead, Blaise chuckled and snatched the parchment from him. "Let me see that." He hadn't been reading it for more than a second or two before he whispered an incredulous, "Holy shit."

" _Right_?"

"What is it?"

"I can't believe they actually did that..."

"I know! I can't imagine why they would…"

" _What is it_?" Pansy pressed again, to which the darker gentleman cleared his throat and began:

"Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy," he read aloud, amusement mounting as each line was unveiled, "you and a guest are cordially invited to the wedding of Miss Ginevra Molly Weasley to Mister Harry James Potter on the 6th of April, 2002--"

"They _didn’t_ ," Pansy gasped in shock before he could even finish.

"I’m as surprised as you are," Draco assured her, a nervous chuckle ringing in his tone.

It was no secret, these days, that he and the famous Potter had made their amends. Once the war had ended, and the Dark Lord's constant, looming threats over his family were a thing of the past, Draco had been the first of several on their side of things to renounce the old ways and admit that he'd been forcibly coerced into the actions he'd taken at the time. The Golden Trio, as it were, weren't as reluctant to stick up for him at his trial as he'd expected, after that. They did the same at his parents', as well--it was probably the only reason his father had gotten off so easily, and he often itched to remind him of such. Following that, many of the students in their year had returned to Hogwarts in order to finish up the education they'd missed out on; being forced to occupy a dorm with the man had furthered reconciliations that Draco hadn't thought possible before then. His fellow Slytherins liked to pretend, every so often, that they still turned their noses up at anyone from a different house, or a "lower" blood status, but everyone knew better; Draco himself could recall many a time he'd seen them sharing lunch and a laugh with one or more of the others. He knew, in fact, that to this very day, Pansy met up with Granger as often as she could. And whether or not she'd ever admit to the _real_ reason behind those meetings, that remained to be seen--but it certainly hadn't gone unnoticed by either of her roommates the way, as of late, that she'd tend to stammer and blush whenever the clever Gryffindor was brought up.

Of course, every witch and wizard from there to China had already known for some time--since the lavish engagement party the Ministry had thrown in their honor a few months back--that _the_ Harry Potter was finally tying the knot. And with another such renowned war hero as Ginny Weasley, at that. The Auror department was several floors down from Draco's own office in Magical Games and Sports, but he ran into Potter from time to time, and obviously his fiancée as well, now that she played for the Harpies. However, despite all of that, this sudden news--that was currently lounging across their breakfast table like a fat, bubblegum pink erumpent--was the very last thing he would've ever anticipated. A chat here and there over champagne at work functions, forced niceties when they crossed paths in the corridors or in the lift, were one thing. To ask Draco to _attend their wedding_? Now that was another…

"Says it'll be at that hotel MacMillan opened in Kent," Blaise continued. "How quaint."

Pansy peered at Draco over the rim of her coffee mug, eyes narrowed in curiosity. "You gonna go, then?" 

"They actually took the bloody time to invite me, I feel almost like I _have_ to, you know what I mean?" He accepted the invitation back from Blaise and looked it over once more. The venue was a nice one, at the very least. He'd heard about the establishment the former Hufflepuff had built recently; he seemed to be doing well for himself with the business, and if the rumors were true, the wedding would probably turn out to be quite fancy indeed under his supervision. It was a few hours away, but as he read further, he saw the note about portkeys being made available to the guests, and that the rooms would all be held just for them--at a discounted rate. Well, that was convenient. It was still odd, to be sure, but he could probably make this work...But then he paused on a part he must've missed, in his shock:

"'You and a guest'..." he mused aloud, chewing on his bottom lip in thought. 'He and a guest'? Implying a significant other of some kind. Of which he didn't have, presently. An old flame sparked to life in his chest--one that he often liked to believe had been permanently extinguished, usually to his dismay. "Well, I can’t very well go stag, can I?"

"Why not?" Pansy was quick to ask.

"It says 'you and a guest,'" he replied matter-of-factly, as if that explained everything. She rolled her eyes in return.

"You know that's just a formality, don't you? They're offering on the off chance you _do_ have someone you'd invite to go with you, but it doesn't mean you _have to_."

"Yes, but the implication--"

"Implication of what? There's nothing wrong with being single. I'm sure they don't actually expect you to come with someone."

"I know, but..."

He and Potter had made their amends. He'd made amends with all of them. He wasn't the spoiled little boy he once was. He liked to think that that meant they were past their petty adolescent rivalries. But as much as he’d tried to school himself into doing otherwise, he couldn’t help the invariably nagging need to be _better_ : to have the better job, the better house, the better _relationship_. The latter of which he was currently--sadly--lacking. For whatever reason, he just couldn't bear the shameful idea of showing up alone...Potter had the Weasley girl, her elder brothers each had someone, as far as he knew, Granger may or may not have had Pansy--and here he was, unshowered and still in his pajamas at half ten. Sure, he had a great job--one he'd been grateful to even have a chance at, with his past--but the truth was that he, oftentimes, was still a rich kid who'd never thought he'd have to work a day in his life to begin with, and who was barely figuring himself out, even at this stage. Good-looking and well-employed though he was, it hadn't been enough to get a bloke to stick around for more than a couple lusty nights in over a year. Which could say more about his choice in men lately than himself, of course, but still. Seemed like everyone around him was pairing up these days, getting their acts together, and he just couldn't allow himself to show up at a _wedding_ , for Merlin's sake--the epitome of being a mature, well-rounded, romantically-stable human being, or so it appeared--as the walking poster boy for bachelordom.

"If you really must, you could always take someone as a friend," Blaise offered as he helped himself to another slice of toast.

Draco wrinkled his nose at the idea. "I’d rather not take someone as ‘just a friend.’ That’d look rather pathetic, wouldn’t it, at a wedding?"

"Oh?" Pansy asked with a condescendingly quirked eyebrow as she made her way back to the counter for a refill of coffee. "Well, who would you be taking, then: one of us? Or perhaps both, that’d sure create a stir."

It was a good question. There was no one--at this point in time, anyway--in his "little black book," per se, that it wouldn’t be odd for him to owl for such a thing. No one on the backburner that wouldn’t take the invitation to mean that he was asking for them to be...monogamous. Perhaps he could take Pansy? She’d probably say yes, and she was so like a sister to him, there wouldn’t be any strings attached. Plus, she’d played the game well enough when they’d dated at school. But on second thought, no, that wouldn’t work at all; despite her flippant demeanor, he could see the cogs turning in her head, wondering when Granger might deem to ask her to accompany her to this thing as well. Not to mention, he’d been out for some time now, and although he would’ve gladly argued with anyone that sexuality wasn’t necessarily a static thing for all involved, he knew there was no way anyone would buy it. Hell, were the tables turned, he wouldn’t either. So there was no boy toy to convince to "make nice" for an evening, no proper, pureblooded witch to have on his arm...And thus that really only left one option…

It wasn’t exactly a _bad_ option; Blaise Zabini _did_ just so happen to be one of the finest male specimens around, or so the gossip had always ran. And he’d never been hard on the eyes. However, Draco resented the idea that because they were "like minded," and best mates, that they, naturally, should be shagging each other. He’d gotten into it with a couple people before, when they’d been rude enough to drop the suggestion. It was just...It wasn't as if he'd never _thought about it_. Blaise was handsome, intelligent, well-spoken. Shared a lot of Draco's interests. They got on well a majority of the time. Besides the fact that they lived together, they spent practically all of their free time with each other; not even Pansy got to be with either of them that much. A few times there, he'd actually thought that maybe...But no, he'd always known that he was mistaken, any time he got that _feeling_ from the other man, even if he liked to think that he wasn't. Far be it from him to ruin a friendship over something that frivolous, anyway. Companionship, support, understanding--these were things he'd only been able to find in abundance in the two seated before him, in Theo, maybe the Greengrass girls. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly easy, making friends, when one was a former Death Eater. And he'd much rather not destroy everything they had together now for what would probably end up being an awkward, drunken fumble at best--or maybe even a really good one-night-stand, if he was lucky.

Still, he wanted to show up to this wedding looking like he had his life more figured out than he actually did. Having the gorgeous Blaise Zabini at his side would certainly do the trick.

"You wouldn’t want to go with me, would you, Blaise?" Draco found himself saying, quietly, almost a mutter as his teeth tore at his left thumbnail. He was almost afraid to meet Blaise's gaze when his eyes snapped up from his plate, but the strange light shining in them at those words held his attention.

"As your _friend_ , or…?"

"You know what I mean." A little lopsided smirk formed at one corner of Blaise's lips, and Draco swallowed against his rising heartbeat. "I mean, I don't mean _like that_ ," he hurried to correct himself as his friend's disturbingly knowing grin grew, "I mean… _posing_ as my...my boyfriend. Not _really_ , of course, but just so...You wouldn’t, would you?" he repeated, painfully aware of how unsure he sounded now.

Blaise was studying him, his dark eyes still twinkling with something Draco couldn't identify. Now he felt foolish; he was almost positive this was a stupid, childish plan, and that they were simply going to laugh at him for it. In fact, he could already feel Pansy's derisive stare in his peripheral. But he paid her no mind, instead focusing on the man next to him, who seemed to be taking quite a lot longer than anticipated to come to a conclusion. Then Draco's heart skipped another beat as Blaise chuckled and replied:

"And miss the chance to pretend to be your adoring boyfriend and make all those silly, vanilla Gryffindors jealous? Not on your life."

The tension in the air lifted, and Draco resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. Blaise was still looking at him in that odd way of his, but it seemed he'd gotten his point across well enough. This wasn't about _dating_ , by any means; it was simply a way for him to save face in front of his former enemies. Nothing serious. And he was certain, based on this brief exchange, that Blaise understood the dynamics of the arrangement, and that he'd made a safe decision in choosing to do this with him. Or at least, he _liked_ to think so.

"Shall I go owl the hotel for our room reservation, then, _poppet_?" Blaise teased, dodging Draco’s swat at his arm as he rose to head for the study.

"Oh, why thank you, _dearest_." Draco rolled his eyes, mentally shaking off the last of his jitters, and Pansy laughed as she rejoined him at the table. He could hear Blaise’s deep timbre chiming in down the hall behind him.

It was settled, then. And how far they might end up taking this charade--and how in control of himself Draco would be once given the opportunity, well...that would be a bridge he’d have to cross when the time came.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/comments = <3!
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr](https://ohlookagaydraco.tumblr.com/) and [LJ](http://fangqueen.livejournal.com/) as well!


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